Unable to recognize Dahua camera

S

Sailboater410

IPCT+ Member
May 18, 2017
58
12
I'm very new to this and my networking skills are miniscule. I started off with a Unifi setup and had it figured out, but sent it all back and ordered some "non-proprietary" equipment. I just received my refurbed Lenovo desktop with i5 3rd Gen more or less per thread recommendations, loaded with Win 10 Pro. I also have 2 Dahua IPC-HDBW42A1EN-AS, which is supposed to be PoE, yet it comes with a power plug that (I hope) must be optional. I loaded the Dahua software that came on a disc with the camera. I have my PC, one camera, and my router plugged into a Unifi 16 port PoE switch. I also paid for and downloaded the full BI package. I am able to get internet access, so I know my network card is working fine. In Network Settings, the IPv4 is set to auto obtain. I think I have the Windows Firewall "Windows Defender Real Time Protection" turned off.

When I enter the default camera IP into a URL, it says "can't find that page". I get the feeling it's broadcasting out through the internet and not looking for the camera. I tried unplugging the router from the switch earlier and got a similar result, or maybe it was "no network detected"? Sorry, it's after midnight, memory fading.

When I try using Dahua's "SmartPSS" that came on the disc, it won't find the camera either. I loaded the camera manually as Type IPC, IP domain 192.168.1.108, Port is default at 37777, default Channel No. 0/0/0/0, and the State says "Offline (can not find network host)"

When I try using BI to add a camera, I use the Find/Inspect with a blank line (like it says to do to search for cameras), user/PW are admin/admin per Dahua, the Make is Dahua, but there are only 3 Model choices: the first 2 are not my camera so I pick "Main Stream RTSP". All other fields are BI defaults. Clicking Find/Inspect comes up empty.

I have tried the second camera with the same results.

What am I doing wrong? It seems the camera is invisible to the PC. Do I need a specific address in the IPv4 network configuration? If so, please provide all 3 lines of what to type, such as IP 192.168.1.108, Subnet 255.255.255.0, and gateway (my guess....) 192.168.1.????????? I still don't understand subnet and gateway.
 
Sometimes it is a good idea to draw a map of your network with pen and paper.

You can then start writing in the network information that you are aware of.

This will serve a number of purposes. Firstly it will give you a better idea of how your network is setup. Secondly, it is helpful to those you are asking assistance from. Take your time, pretty picture then start adding the technical details (even just the basic stuff like IP addresses). If you have been able to configure and install Ubiquiti gear, this should be a relatively simple exercise.
 
Sailboater410 said:
I have my PC, one camera, and my router plugged into a Unifi 16 port PoE switch
Click to expand...
What PoE standard does that support? Hopefully not the 24V passive variety.
Does a link detect light show on the port the camera is connected to?
If not - try powering the camera with a separate 12V DC 1A min power supply.

Sailboater410 said:
2 Dahua IPC-HDBW42A1EN-AS, which is supposed to be PoE, yet it comes with a power plug that (I hope) must be optional.
Click to expand...
Do you mean a power tail on the camera cable? Or a separate 12V power supply?
 
Thanks for helping, much appreciated. Replies in order:

a. Great idea, will do. However at this point my "installation" is all right here at my desk, including PC, Ethernet cables, one camera, router/modem, and PoE switch. I'm making sure I know how to do this before I install the cameras.

b. According to the instructions with the camera, it is 12VDC. Link Detect is yellow, meaning 10/100 is good. Also there's a yellow PoE light which indicates +12 VDC is active. Here is a link to the Dahua spec sheet. Note in the Electrical section it states 12 VDC PoE AF Class 0. I also note this one uses H.264 compression, not H.265; I saw a post between Fenderman and someone where their connectivity was resolved by making sure H.264 was specified in the setup. I did try doing this and didn't seem to help.

c. The separate 12VDC input is a pigtail with classic female bullet connector found on almost all 12 vdc devices, along with pigtail connections for audio in and audio out (RCA jacks) and wires for an alarm function. Based on the switch PoE lamp indication, it seems the PoE is working. The camera is physically warm, so it is receiving power.
 
Make sure that the computer you are using to attempt connection to the camera is set in the same IP range as the camera.
Thus, Camera default is 192.168.1.108. Your computer needs to be on the same range. So for example, your computer's IP address needs to be for example 192.168.1.???.

The female power cord on the camera is optional. In your case you won't need it.

How to Assign a Static IP Address in Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, or Vista
 
I followed the directions and manually entered:
192.168.1.108
255.255.255.0
192.168.1.1

I looked up my DNS server using ipconfig and entered:
192.168.254.254

I checked the verification box, it detected a problem, I ran the suggested fix, and it reset the entire networking thing back to auto! So I repeated it but did NOT accept the troubleshooting fix.

ipconfig /all yields the following:
upload_2017-5-27_11-46-25.png

I can see that DHCP is not enabled, a good thing I think.
Don't know what 169.254.88.235 is, but likely my router??? (The switch is a 192.168.254.23)
I see "duplicate" after the device address, but it looks like my input settings stuck.

When I Ping 192.168.1.108 I get this return:
upload_2017-5-27_11-50-26.png

Argh. It's not reaching the camera, or at least I think that would be the "destination host".
 
You need to get your machine and camera on the same subnet with *unique* IPs. Looks like you entered the same IP for your computer as that for the cam. Easiest since you know where that IPv4 setting for your computer would be to change the IP address of your computer there. The 3 lines would be 192.168.1.5 (for example, could pick some other) for IP. 255.255.255.0 for mask. Gateway and DNS won't matter in this case since traffic will be staying internal and you're using IP addresses vs host names but you can put in the IP of your router for both (most likely 192.168.1.1). You'll want to go back and change some of this and probably some settings your router later but forget that for now.

Then run ipconfig again. Assuming that your IP now is 192.168.1.5 and on the same subnet that the camera is supposed to be run the ping again. Should see returns from the cam at 192.168.1.108.
 
Thank you Mike, that did the trick, I now have imagery from 2 cameras and I successfully reidentified with new IP addresses. My lesson learned is that the Windows network setting is for the computer, whereas I thought it was identifying the device I wanted to talk to; i.e., .108. Once I fixed the computer at 192.168.1.5, then it all worked. So when someone says all devices need to be "on the same subnet", I guess that means they need to have the same 192.168.1 (i.e., first 3 blocks the same), whereas the last block (5 or 108 or whatever) is used to identify individual devices on that subnet. I didn't understand this new language and its terms!

Next mystery: Right now I must designate my network IP assignment to get camera imagery, and doing that shuts down access to my modem/router and the internet, so I must change the IP from AUTO to SPECIFIED back and forth if I need to access internet or access cameras, but cannot get both at the same time. If I put my router onto the same 192.168.1 subnet, would that allow access of both cameras and internet at the same time? This seems necessary once I go "live" with my camera system and want to get notifications and live feeds, right?

Thanks!
 
essentially you are making a network topology map in reverse.
 
Sailboater410 said:
Thank you Mike, that did the trick, I now have imagery from 2 cameras and I successfully reidentified with new IP addresses. My lesson learned is that the Windows network setting is for the computer, whereas I thought it was identifying the device I wanted to talk to; i.e., .108. Once I fixed the computer at 192.168.1.5, then it all worked. So when someone says all devices need to be "on the same subnet", I guess that means they need to have the same 192.168.1 (i.e., first 3 blocks the same), whereas the last block (5 or 108 or whatever) is used to identify individual devices on that subnet. I didn't understand this new language and its terms!
Click to expand...

Correct. Not an exact analogy but basically you can think of your subnet as your neighborhood and IP addresses as individual house numbers. Each has a unique address which is used to deliver things to it (network traffic in this case). The gateway is the way in and out of your neighborhood to the rest of the world. The mask is a little more complicated to explain but basically serves as a filter for the scope/size of the subnet. For your purposes with a single small subnet it will always be 255.255.255.0, i.e. only dealing with a subnet of 255 possible IPs within that last .N addressing block. That gives you 254 possible addresses/devices to work with within your network (255 isn't used for a specific reason that's beyond the scope here). The DNS is a server which translates IP numbers to more easily used names so that you can refer to an address by a name like google.com rather than by number(s).

In the setup for your machine you're assigning its own address. You'll do the same or have it automatically assigned for the other various computers/devices on your network. When you manually assign an address you're giving it a static IP address which remains the same. When you set the addressing to automatic, your router (in most cases, can be some other server) uses a DHCP server to dynamically give it a number within the range of addresses that you've defined for that network. Typically, you'd use a static address for things (e.g., cameras, your router, maybe some printers, etc.) that you want to keep at the same address so you/various programs and services always know how to find them. You don't need/want to do that for every device especially those that move between various networks (laptop, cell phones, tablets, etc.) so you'd leave those to be assigned automatically. You'll do that one way or the other on each device within its own respective setup area for networking. Also in your router there's likely a way to assign specific addresses to specific devices automatically based on their MAC addresses which is another unique way to identify specific devices but don't bother with that for now.

Next mystery: Right now I must designate my network IP assignment to get camera imagery, and doing that shuts down access to my modem/router and the internet, so I must change the IP from AUTO to SPECIFIED back and forth if I need to access internet or access cameras, but cannot get both at the same time. If I put my router onto the same 192.168.1 subnet, would that allow access of both cameras and internet at the same time? This seems necessary once I go "live" with my camera system and want to get notifications and live feeds, right?
Click to expand...

You'd want to do the opposite. Rather than changing your router's IP to match whatever device, you'd want to change the IP of the device to fit into the network numbering as defined by your router. i.e., You don't want to be continually changing your numbering scheme from 192.168.1.N to 192.168.0.N or whatever else some random devices come set to by default whenever you add something new. Different people/companies like to use different numbering schemes but probably most common now is to use 192.168.1.N. If your router isn't using this then you might consider changing it to do so since it may make adding new devices a little easier. So, in this case you'd leave your computer set to automatically be assigned an address by the DHCP server running on your router. You'd assign a specific static address matching that same subnet addressing within the setup on your camera. So it may be 192.168.1.108. The mask would be 255.255.255.0. The gateway will be your router. DNS you can do a variety of ways but for now probably point it to your router or set it to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (Google's DNS servers). You should be able to tell how the addressing is being done now by setting your computer to auto and then running ipconfig. Your router typically will be at the .1 address within that subnet. It also will have an outside IP address which is assigned in a similar way by your ISP but you don't need to deal with that for your internal network. You will need to know it or an assigned dynamic name when trying to hit your cameras from outside of your network but that's another matter. Also beyond scope here but in most cases you'll want to restrict access to/from the camera and the Internet in various ways. Need to get it working at a basic level first though.

The above is simplistic and incomplete but should get you started down the road at least.
 
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Mike A - Thanks much for taking the time to write your detailed response, very helpful and it did indeed get me going. I have 2 cameras installed, more on the way. My switch is in a remote closet but the PC readily accessible. Next I'll be connecting my NAS (also to be remote/hidden) and router/modem.... more work in the attic which, as others state, is the most rigorous part of the job! Your comments about matching equipment to the router instead of vice versa got me thinking and I will do more research, but I would think it's good practice to change the "standard" Frontier router internal IP (the external is DHCP) for improved security anyway, so once that is changed and all household devices (mostly wireless for us) are changed, I would hope there wouldn't need to be any switching back and forth as you noted. Actually for wireless devices like phones, I don't recall entering IPs, only SSIDs and passwords.

Cheers!
 
Finally getting back to this. Should probably be a different thread, but .....

I can view all cameras on my PC just fine. I now have my PC, cameras, and router tied together to a switch. With my IPv4 network settings manually entered, I can view all cameras but cannot access the internet, i.e., get beyond the router to the outside world. I believe I need to do this if I have any hope of viewing my cameras, getting alerts, etc. In the BI Web Server setup, the "local, internal LAN access" is http://192.168.a.b:1050 (a and b are numbers of course, just not revealing them.) These numbers a and b are NOT the ones shown on the label on my router! I tried those earlier All my camera ports are the default BI camera port, but I changed this one to 1050 based on a Youtube. The WAN is now showing 104.235.c.d:1050. I assume this one gets changed by my ISP/DHCP.

Why can i not get outside internet access?
What settings should I be using for the various web server settings in BI?
Should my switch IP be entered anywhere in this?
If I provide a pictorial diagram of my layout with known IP addresses would that help? Or would that divulge too much info to the world?

Thank you,
Ron
 
Sailboater410 said:
Finally getting back to this. Should probably be a different thread, but .....

I can view all cameras on my PC just fine. I now have my PC, cameras, and router tied together to a switch. With my IPv4 network settings manually entered, I can view all cameras but cannot access the internet, i.e., get beyond the router to the outside world. I believe I need to do this if I have any hope of viewing my cameras, getting alerts, etc. In the BI Web Server setup, the "local, internal LAN access" is http://192.168.a.b:1050 (a and b are numbers of course, just not revealing them.) These numbers a and b are NOT the ones shown on the label on my router! I tried those earlier All my camera ports are the default BI camera port, but I changed this one to 1050 based on a Youtube. The WAN is now showing 104.235.c.d:1050. I assume this one gets changed by my ISP/DHCP.

Why can i not get outside internet access?
What settings should I be using for the various web server settings in BI?
Should my switch IP be entered anywhere in this?
If I provide a pictorial diagram of my layout with known IP addresses would that help? Or would that divulge too much info to the world?

Thank you,
Ron
Click to expand...

You shouldn't have to be setting anything manually other than when first setting things up if what you're adding doesn't match your normal network range as you run it.

Rather than what do you have, this is what you should have as far as your general set up. You can adapt the specific IP numbering to whatever you use:

- Router set to static 192.168.1.1

- Your computer and other local access devices set to pull an IP address via DHCP from the router within that 192.168.1.x range (or you could use a static 192.168.1.x IP for that also if you wanted - just going by your earlier description and how it's generally done). It should pull the gateway (192.168.1.1) and DNS settings (e.g., 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4) from your router but you can override and specify them if you want.

- Your camera(s) set to unique static IP(s) within that same 192.168.1.x range. Gateway and DNS don't really matter when using BI since you don't want them going outside in most cases anyway. Might want to set to non-valid numbers to better isolate them at some point but don't worry about that now.

- Your BI server set to another unique static IP within that same 192.168.1.x range. Gateway should point to your router (192.168.1.1). DNS should point to valid DNS servers (e.g., 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4) assuming that you may want to access the Internet from it for various purposes.

- Within BI, the server port set to whatever port it will listen on (e.g., 1050 as you have it set in your case).

At the point that you have things set up as above, then while connected inside of your network you should be able to access cameras, BI, and the Internet (assuming that you have outside access obviously) without changing anything.

From outside of your net, you'd need to know the WAN IP (which, yes, is set by your provider). Your router has two IPs, one inside (192.168.1.1) and one outside (104.235.c.d) which it routes traffic between. You'll either need to find/know it as it may change from time to time or, to make it easier, you can set up DDNS service which will track changes to the outside IP and let you address it by name (e.g., yourhouse.ddns.net). That will let you hit the outside-facing side of your router from the Internet. To get through it and into your local network (192.168.1.x addresses), you'll also need to either set up VPN service on your router and client devices (preferred way) or open and forward a port on your router. You then can connect to the BI server (and other devices) inside of your network. Once that's done, then you'd access it by using, for example, http://yourhouse.ddns.net:1050 or directly at 104.235.c.d:1050. Get the inside access working first and then you can deal with the outside.
 
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